PE
Excitation: 565nm, Emission: 578nm
BACKGROUND:
Aminopeptidase N (CD13) is a zinc-binding protease that has functional effects on both cancerogenesis and tumor angiogenesis. Since CD13 is an antigen suitable for molecular targeted therapies (e.g. tTF-NGR induced tumor vascular infarction), we evaluated its impact in NSCLC patients, and tested the effects of the CD13-targeted fusion protein tTF-NGR (truncated tissue factor (tTF) containing the NGR motif: asparagine-glycine-arginine) in vivo in nude mice.
METHODS:
Expression of both CD13 and CD31 was studied in 270 NSCLC patients by immunohistochemistry. Clinical correlations and prognostic effects of the expression profiles were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. In addition, a microarray-based analysis on the basis of the KM plotter database was performed. The in vivo effects of the CD13-targeted fusion protein tTF-NGR on tumor growth were tested in CD1 nude mice carrying A549 lung carcinoma xenotransplants.
RESULTS:
CD13 expression in tumor endothelial and vessel associated stromal cells was found in 15% of the investigated samples, while expression in tumor cells was observed in 7%. Although no significant prognostic impact was observed in the full NSCLC study cohort, both univariate and multivariate models identified vascular CD13 protein expression to correlate with poor overall survival in stage III and pN2+ NSCLC patients. Microarray-based mRNA analysis for either adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas did not reveal any significant effect. However, the analysis of CD13 mRNA expression for all lung cancer histologies demonstrated a positive prognostic effect. In vivo, systemic application of CD13-targeted tissue factor tTF-NGR significantly reduced CD13+ A549 tumor growth in nude mice.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results contribute a data basis for prioritizing clinical testing of tTF-NGR and other antitumor molecules targeted by NGR-peptides in NSCLC. Because CD13 expression in NSCLC tissues was found only in a specific subset of NSCLC patients, rigorous pre-therapeutic testing will help to select patients for these studies.
This study is the first to report the presence of CD13/glycoprotein 150 (GP150)/aminopeptidase-N activity in cell-free plasma. We have determined that aminopeptidase-N in plasma provides, quantitatively, aminopeptidase-N's predominant functional activity within flowing blood. Thus, while aminopeptidase-N activity observed in whole blood can be partly, but significantly, blocked by the CD13 monoclonal antibody (MAB) WM15, the magnitude of such inhibition is low (< 25%) and similar to that observed using washed cell fractions selectively enriched for neutrophils (30.6% inhibition) or monocytes (21.8% inhibition). Plasma, free of cell components, possesses substantial aminopeptidase-N activity that is largely inhibitable (> 70%) by WM15. Blood collected into heparin or citrate yields similar data, while blood collected into EDTA gives rise to reduced CD13/aminopeptidase-N activity, consistent with inhibition of the known heavy-metal ion association necessary for proper functioning of this molecule. Although monocyte- and granulocyte-enriched cell fractions possess aminopeptidase-N activity significantly inhibitable by CD13 antibodies, lymphocyte-enriched cell fractions also possess aminopeptidase-N-like activity; however, in the latter case, this activity is not inhibitable by CD13 antibodies. Immunoaffinity isolation of plasma aminopeptidase-N has also been carried out; further characterization using functional studies and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE) electrophoresis indicates that CD13 MABs can completely clear plasma of aminopeptidase-N activity and that the purified protein has similar electrophoretic characteristics to cell-derived material. These data, therefore, provide evidence for the presence within blood both of a soluble (that is, non-cell-associated) form of CD13/GP150/aminopeptidase-N localizable to plasma and of cell-associated, aminopeptidase-N-like proteins other than CD13/GP150. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of the many functions of this molecule in blood.
